The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is seeking applications for funding under the Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act Program. This program furthers the Department’s mission by supporting and assisting state, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions in improving efforts to reduce violent crime by creating a training and technical assistance (TTA) program that assesses and confronts violence in schools, and by providing assistance to awardees under the BJA STOP School Violence Program. This solicitation incorporates the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide by reference. It provides guidance to applicants on how to prepare and submit applications for funding to OJP. If this solicitation expressly modifies any provision in the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide, the applicant is to follow the guidelines in this solicitation as to that provision.
Among its provisions, the STOP School Violence Act of 2018 authorized BJA to manage a grant program that would support efforts by states, local units of government, and federally-recognized Indian tribes to prevent and reduce school violence. This solicitation specifically seeks applicants to serve as a training and technical assistance (TTA) provider, on BJA’s behalf, to provide TTA and other support to awardees under the BJA STOP Prevention Training and Response to Mental Health Crisis Program, the BJA STOP Technology and Threat Assessment Solutions for Safer Schools Program, and the COPS Office STOP School Violence Prevention Program, in order to develop a knowledge base and technical assistance delivery model for communities seeking to improve school safety.
Program-Specific Information
The STOP School Violence Act is designed to improve school security and prevent acts of violence by students against themselves and others. BJA and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) have the following responsibilities under the Act:
1. Creation and delivery of training for school personnel and the education of students to prevent student violence against others and themselves.
2. The development, operation, and evaluation of anonymous reporting systems including mobile telephone applications, hotlines and web sites designed to identify threats of school violence.
3. The development and operation of:
- a. school threat assessment and crisis intervention teams that may involve coordination between law enforcement agencies and school personnel.
- b. specialized behavioral heath training for school officials to help them distinguish dangerous behavior from signs of mental illness in children.
4. Improving schools’ coordination with local law enforcement agencies.
5. Delivery of training for local law enforcement officers designed to prevent student violence against others and themselves.
6. Placement and use of metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other measures intended to deter student violence.
7. Acquisition and installation of technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency.
An important goal for this program is to provide nationwide simultaneous TTA to school districts, public safety agencies, and communities, in an effort to prevent school violence as prescribed in the responsibilities required of BJA and the COPS Office under the STOP School Violence Act.
Because this is a new national TTA program, it is important that applicants leverage and build upon existing school safety TTA services readily available through BJA, COPS Office, and other agencies. Applicants should clearly articulate how they will establish and expand TTA efforts based on the requirements set forth under the STOP School Violence Act and BJA and COPS Office guidance. Applicants should address all of the aspects of the program listed above in their applications. In addition, applicants must explain how they will provide TTA to small agencies in rural, and tribal jurisdictions across the United States and how this will be accomplished in partnership with federal agencies, educational institutions, professional organizations, and the private sector. As of FY 2019, there are a combined 242 active BJA and COPS STOP School Violence sites. An additional 265 sites are expected to be awarded in both FY2019 and FY2020, depending on appropriations.
Objectives and Deliverables
During the 36-month program period, the award recipient will receive oversight and guidance from BJA and the COPS Office, and will be required to achieve the following objectives and produce the following deliverables, including, but not limited to:
• Objectives:
Increase the knowledge and capacity of STOP School Violence Program awardees to prevent school violence, through the provision of ongoing technical assistance (both remote and onsite) to existing and future STOP grantees throughout the duration of their STOP grant award.
Increase the amount of information provided to BJA, COPS Office, and the criminal justice community on the subject of school violence and school safety.
Serve as a resource and training center for information and research about national and statewide school safety initiatives, and collect and disseminate information on school safety initiatives and school safety data.
• Deliverables:
Create a comprehensive TTA program, primarily but not exclusively for STOP grantees, which identifies core capacities for creating safe and secure educational environments.
Establish a multidisciplinary TTA delivery team that includes subject matter experts from across the continuum of STOP grantee activities. These experts and their qualifications must be identified in the grant application.
Applicants must describe a plan to assess and support new STOP grantee projects, core capacities, and their TTA needs. The plan shall ensure that follow-up intensive assistance is available to grantees related to application of promising and evidence-based practices; and planning for STOP project implementation and sustainment. The plan should also discuss how the TTA provider will evaluate the TTA provided and its impacts, how peer-to-peer learning opportunities will be encouraged across sites, and how specialized assistance will be provided, where applicable.
Applicants must have the expertise to be able to assist STOP grantees in developing evidence-based school threat assessment processes and plans, and assist with their implementation. The TTA provider should assist sites in creating regular reviews and exercises of the assessments; validating school threat assessments; or provide additional ongoing assistance as needed. Elements of the threat assessment process by the site should include activities such as:
- Developing basic procedures and guidelines for the assessment
- Conducting threat assessment training, to include table top exercises
- Consulting with relevant legal counsel
- Keeping records and appropriate data
- Communicating with parents and the community
- Creating partnerships with mental health and community support services
Interested applicants should send the following documents in sequence in one PDF file (File name: Last name_NIH 17-340_2019 no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline:
1. Cover Letter (1 page, pdf):
- Descriptive title of proposed activity
- Name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the PD(s)/PI(s)
- Names of other key personnel
- Participating institution(s)
- Number and title of this funding opportunity
2. Project Description (no more than two pages, pdf) and identify the project scope that addresses the key aspects and elements, principal investigators, collaborators, and partner organizations.
Questions concerning the limited submissions process may be submitted to limitedsubs@psu.edu.